Cheap meat - worth the savings?

[Lovecat]

We are on a bit of an economy drive and one of our biggest weekly costs after the mortgage is food - it's not uncommon for us to spend £100+ in a week, although often this is down to buying things other than food, like books/kitchenware/children's clothes. Still, even taking that into consideration, I tend to buy everything organic since dd came along and it does bump the costs up considerably.

Anyway, we were recently on holiday and the nearest supermarket for miles around was a LIDL. Never been to one before (except to buy horse blankets, but that's another story) and DH was astonished at how cheap it was. He suggested I should try shopping there in future, so I went along to our local one this week and, while the quality of the fresh fruit/veg was pretty dire, the meat and tinned goods were okay. Food for the week ended up £27, with £10 spent in the market on the fruit/veggies.

Now, what I'm asking (with my paranoid mother hat on) is will eating this kind of thing affect dd? Will she get the same nutritional value out of this cheap meat and veg that she gets out of her Waitrose organics?

Part of me thinks what the hell, I grew up eating absolute shite and was relatively thin in my twenties, but I was never particularly healthy...

And does anyone have any budget-y tips for a struggling downsizer?

funnily enough, cucumber is on my List of Things That Taste Better Organic. as are bananas and potatoes.

I am not arsed about organic anything, any fruit and veg will do

meat is different, we have a local farmer and we get all out meat from him, apart from bacon as he doesn't do smoked, so I get Tesco or Sainbury's Lets Charge As Much As We Can range

I think most of the current food scares are to do with the absolutely shitty way we treat animals (and farmers) in this country - BSE anyone? Foot and Mouth?

if a battery chicken was cute and fluffy like an ickle rabbit in a lab, there would be uproar

Yes I really like the texture, I like the crunchy gnarliness of it

I think everything tastes better organic, but not reliably unless it comes from a farm. Half of the supermarket organic stuff just tastes bland as the usual IMO

see i also try very hard not to by dutch veggies, organic or not, because they taste of nothing.

come on frank, quinoa me up. i'm goiing to put it into bean stews etc, perhaps even minestrone-like soups. i'll do some roast veg with harissa i think. what else?

www.moneysavingexpert.com have some great cheap recipies, but they are using cheap meat - you could use more expensive meat and still save money

my mum and me started doing food comparison tastings to convince our men, it also jump started us to turn our front garden into a veggie patch. This summer we have had the best crop of strawberries which the boys have enjoyed picking and the taste is completely different. we both refuse to buy the watery, tasteless offerings from our supermarkets now.

I never could get quinoa to work for me.

But puy and red lentils . . . mmmmm.

Have sourced local chicken and eggs where we're moving and locally produced organic milk.

Nearly sorted! Would like to find a local pig farmer, but until such time the farmer we've been using for years does mail order in Scotland, so we're sorted there.

Atich - never heard of anyone else who does a chorizo and chick pea stew, its so yummy!!!

From a cost point of view then organic meat is considerably more expensive. We buy local meat either direct from farms or from local butcher, all outdoor reared and great tasting but not certified organic.

it is, isn't it? we put lemon zest and juice in ours at teh end to zing it up. serve with crusty bread, a blob of yoghurt if we have it, and a salad.

hmmm.....we often have it with cinnamon and almond couscous...yummy

I like Lidls sandwich meats etc- find them far better quality than most supermarkets 9we odnt ahev a waitrose tho)

Get a slowcooker, £5.99 worth of brisket in the slowcooker did us wonders today and if DS2 hadnt tripped and thrown mine everywhere (grrr) would have been enough left over for a curry or similar in the week, whcih isnt bad for 5 of us imo

that sounds Absolutely Delicious. recipe me right up, please!

its very easy, I make up the couscous, in whatever way works best for you, add some cinnamon (half a teaspoon?), and a handful of flaked almonds, fork it around to separate the grains and mix and hey presto - done. Ground almonds would give the same result. works really well with lamb, morrocan style dishes as well.

My dh always knows i've had a tough afternoon with the kids when its couscous as its so easy.

I sometimes make up the couscous by adding boiling water over the couscous in a bowl and then covering with cling film. Leave and then just fork to separate. If we're having it with fish I add some lemon juice with the boiling water and then some freshly chopped coriander as I serve..lovely.

i am a bit shit as couscous, but in a way it's okay as dd prefers it a bit clumpy. you should try adding toasted coriander seed, that's also lovely. will try it your way next time.
is there a simple rule with couscous and the boiling water method? is it one-for-one water and couscous? i never get it quite right doiing it in a saucepan.

Thanks for all your replies.

You've confirmed my gut feeling, that I really DON'T want to buy meat from Lidl or anywhere too cheap n' cheerful! I may have given the impression we eat nothing but, but actually we don't have meat twice a day every day, honest! I do believe quality is more important than quantity too.

Filly - dd DOES eat a shedload of fruit (incl toms and avos) this is the only reason I am not tearing my hair out re. the veg issue! (anyway, the Inuit and the Masai do all right...)

It's the greens/reds/oranges that are the issue - however, we are coming back to them very slowly (it's been over a year now since she decided she wasn't having anything remotely veg-based in her life) - Saturday I was chopping up carrots for a pie and she asked if she could have a bit - she ate two slices before deciding the 3rd was 'yuck' but hey, it's progress! Also 1 pea and a sliver of broccoli with butter... baby steps - got into a situation last year with her where food was becoming a control issue for both of us and a source of stress so basically I decided to walk away from it and not be seen to care what she ate. After a looooooong time, she's finally coming around and I'm hoping that 1 day soon we'll all be able to eat the same damn dinner together!

Back to the OT... thank you all for your ideas. Ta for the tips but I hate couscous, hate lentils of any description, never tried Quinoa but am about it!

We are hopefully moving house this year (hence economy drive, in part) and one of my criteria for an area is a good local butcher/greengrocer/baker etc.

Thanks again

Just about the veggies. DS1 was similar between the ages of about 2 and a half and 3 and a half. I continued to put them on his plate and one day, he looked at the brocolli and announced 'I am a giant and I will eat these trees all up' and it was all gone. Now he will eat nearly all veg again. Worth persisting!